Question
I have a large area of spreading blue junipers on a slope (about 150 originally planted) which has almost entirely been overtaken with weeds.  The weeds are low, lush and tightly rooted with a bluish flower this spring.  Is there anything I can use to kill these weeds without harming the junipers (short of trying to hand-pull all the weeds)?  I live in zip code 37617.

Thank you.

Kathy Urbin

Answer
Yes, use Round-Up (active ingredience: glypsophate). It is a weed control product which is taken up through the leaves (and stem/flowers) only. Inside the plant it will prevent it from conducting photosynthesis and thus kill it.

It is only effective if sprayed directly on the leaves and it will not translocate and leave any residue in soil. When the product dries you can plant new flowers, but still let the weeds die back first (may take 3-7 days).

You can buy spray bottles at home depot, lowes, walmart, etc and spray the weeds. (I would use large sturdy cardboard pieces to shield grass, perennials, the junifers, and other plants while spraying). Once the product is dry it is safe.

Spray to thoroughly wet the leaves, but avoid making them so dripping wet that it drips onto desirable lawn grasses, etc. Generally, if sprayed on weeds in a lawn, surrounding grass is killed due to 'drift'. If you spray around junipers (e.g. persumably not in a lawn area) you should be ok as long as you do not spray the junipers. Use cardboard to shield and spray directly at the low growing weeds. Maybe you want to test out weeds around 1-2 junipers first, but generally you should be ok.

Spray on a calm day and direct the nossel directly at the weeds. wear protective clothing and gloves.

Note: weeds with 'waxy' leaves may repell the spray. In this case it may help to 'damage' the weeds by mechanical action (trash it) but avoid cutting it back a few days before or after.


Use at temperatures between 50 and 85 deg F.